So now you've gotten Windows Vista installed. Where do you begin the next step in turning this computer into something usable? How do you configure it to "feel good," the way you want it to? That is exactly what you'll learn in this chapter on Windows Vista post-installation tasks.

After a successful installation, the Windows Vista Welcome Center appears. This introduces the user to the standard configuration areas of the computer, shown in Figure 2.1.

You can either minimize or close the Welcome Center, but if you want it to stop popping up with every login, you must clear the Run at Startup check box, in the lower-left corner of the Welcome Center window.

You need to know how to configure the desktop and use tools in the following areas:

Windows Sidebar

Windows Aero

Administrator accounts and standard user accounts

Windows Easy Transfer

Application installation and configuration

Performance improvement in Windows Vista

Media Center

Media Player

Windows Sidebar

Windows Sidebar, a new feature in Windows Vista, is a glasslike desktop enhancement that acts as an anchor for useful applications called Gadgets.

If you want Sidebar to be on the desktop with every login, enable the Start Sidebar When Windows Starts check box. As you can see, you can keep Sidebar on top of all other windows, place Sidebar on the right or left side of your display, specify which monitor to display Sidebar on if you have multiple display monitors, view all running Gadgets, and reinstall the default Gadgets, just in case they've gone missing. Click the OK button when you've finished configuring the Sidebar properties.

You'll also notice that Sidebar places an icon in the system tray in the lower-right corner of your desktop. You can access the Sidebar menu by right-clicking this icon in the system tray.

The default installation of Windows Vista includes about a dozen Gadgets:

Calendar

Clock

Contacts

CPU Meter

Currency converter

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Feed Headlines

Notes

Picture Puzzle

Slideshow picture viewer

Stocks

Weather monitor

You can access these Gadgets by right-clicking Sidebar and selecting Add Gadgets. This brings up the Gadget Gallery, as shown in Figure 2.5.

Selecting the Uninstall option shown in Figure 2.6 removes the Gadget software from the computer. This is usually done when creating the bastion host computer, which is a hardened operating system with all nonessential software removed, nonessential services stopped and locked down, and nonessential user accounts removed.

You can reinstall the Gadget software by selecting the Restore Gadgets Installed with Windows option in Sidebar Properties, shown earlier.

By selecting the Get More Gadgets Online hyperlink or the www.gallery.microsoft.com hyperlink in the lower-right corner of the Gadget Gallery, you can access and download a large number of Microsoft and third-party Gadgets. The files you download will have a .gadget extension and must be installed into the Gadget Gallery to be available for addition to Windows Sidebar.

CAUTION

Many different developers have written these Gadgets, which are programs that will run on your computer. Install Gadgets only from developers you trust. If the developer of the Gadget is a bad guy, the Gadget could be used to access your computer's files, show you objectionable content, change the computer's behavior at any time, or perform any number of malicious actions.

After the gadget is installed on the computer and added to Windows Sidebar, when you place the mouse pointer over the Gadget on Sidebar, you'll notice a small rectangular menu appear, as shown beside the Clock Gadget in Figure 2.7.

This menu provides access to controls to close the Gadget using the X at the top, or to access the properties of the Gadget using the wrench. Selecting the wrench on the Clock Gadget gives you a custom properties page, as shown in Figure 2.8.

Because Gadgets do many different things and are written by many different developers, these properties dialogs differ greatly.

Some Gadgets can be adjusted relative to their level of opacity. Because these are always on the desktop, Microsoft figured it was a good idea to give them different levels of opacity, in case you want to see what is behind the Gadget.

You can also detach Gadgets from Sidebar and place them anywhere on the desktop. Simply drag and drop them wherever you want them placed; you can also do this from the Gadget's right-click menu.

If you remove a Gadget from Sidebar, it is still available from the Gadget Gallery and can be added back to Sidebar.

Finally, using the plus sign (+) and the right arrow at the top of Sidebar, you can add multiple Sidebars with different combinations of Gadgets and then rotate Sidebar to present the desired Sidebar face.